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Best Exercises for Gardeners // Lesser Celandine: A Nasty Spreading Weed

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Best Exercises for Gardeners-- I asked my favorite physical therapist, Mallory Aquilino, of Brewster Physical Therapy, what exercises she would recommend to prepare for gardening season. She recommended some stretches from VH1 and these are my favorite three. I try to do the stretches in the morning and evening everyday. The first two are especially good for the back. In Stretch #1, pull one knee in to your chest until a comfortable stretch is…
Best Exercises for Gardeners-- I asked my favorite physical therapist, Mallory Aquilino, of Brewster Physical Therapy, what exercises she would recommend to prepare for gardening season. She recommended some stretches from VH1 and these are my favorite three. I try to do the stretches in the morning and evening everyday. The first two are…

vaccinating a dog

Make Your Own Rooting Hormone // Kabocha Squash Soup Recipe

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Make Your Own Rooting Hormone-- I have store bought rooting hormone that comes in a little jar. It's a powder that you dip cuttings into to hasten the development of roots. My teacher at The NY Botanical Garden taught us how to make our own rooting hormone at home. The recipe is simple. Cut willow wood shoots and place in warm water for 24 hours, then put your cuttings in the same water for 24 hours before planting them in a…
Make Your Own Rooting Hormone-- I have store bought rooting hormone that comes in a little jar. It's a powder that you dip cuttings into to hasten the development of roots. My teacher at The NY Botanical Garden taught us how to make our own rooting hormone at home. The recipe is simple. Cut willow wood shoots and place in warm…

vaccinating a dog

Book Give Away // Growing Kalanchoe tomentosa

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

  Book Give Away: May the Best Garden Geek Win--In the Comments field below tell us why you are a garden geek, and the geekiest among you will win a copy of Christy Wilhelmi's book. What does it mean to be a garden geek?  In her intro Christy says "When garden geeks get excited about a subject they want to know everything. Gardening is an exciting topic-- a vast world of soil biology, botany, and horticulture. It cross-pollinates with the insect…
  Book Give Away: May the Best Garden Geek Win--In the Comments field below tell us why you are a garden geek, and the geekiest among you will win a copy of Christy Wilhelmi's book. What does it mean to be a garden geek?  In her intro Christy says "When garden geeks get excited about a subject they want to know…

vaccinating a dog

Growing Clivia Miniata

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Growing Beautiful Clivia Miniata Indoors How To Give The Perfect Back Rub Growing Clivia Miniata Indoors-- Clivia Miniata is one of my favorite houseplants and it's supposed to be easy to grow.  I bought a recently divided and repotted plant last Spring at a garden club sale. It had one large majestic bloom at the time. After the blooms faded I cut them back to the base as instructed, keeping the leathery leaves…
Growing Beautiful Clivia Miniata Indoors How To Give The Perfect Back Rub Growing Clivia Miniata Indoors-- Clivia Miniata is one of my favorite houseplants and it's supposed to be easy to grow.  I bought a recently divided and repotted plant last Spring at a garden club sale. It had one large majestic bloom…

vaccinating a dog

Compost Tea vs. Fertilizer for your Houseplants: What’s the Difference?

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Lately we have heard a lot of talk about microbes and the biology of soil.  In the past we spoke of plant fertilizers in terms of N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and that seemed to be the end of discussion. Last Spring we approached Annie Haven of  Haven Family Ranch in San Juan Capistrano, California, a farm run by the Haven family for more than 160 years. She sells muslin bags of aged cow and…
Lately we have heard a lot of talk about microbes and the biology of soil.  In the past we spoke of plant fertilizers in terms of N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and that seemed to be the end of discussion. Last Spring we approached Annie Haven of  Haven Family Ranch in San Juan Capistrano, California,…

vaccinating a dog

To Grow Paperwhites That Won’t Flop Over, a Nip of Alcohol

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

I love growing pure white narcissus paperwhite bulbs for holiday decorations and gifts, but I wish they wouldn’t get so leggy that they flop over as soon as they start blooming. I learned that the bulb industry, with Cornell University, has a solution for people like me. Read on for step-by-step instructions... It turns out that alcohol, diluted with water, is what shortens the narcissus stems. If you follow our instructions below, the stems will be 1/3 to 1/2 shorter with…
I love growing pure white narcissus paperwhite bulbs for holiday decorations and gifts, but I wish they wouldn’t get so leggy that they flop over as soon as they start blooming. I learned that the bulb industry, with Cornell University, has a solution for people like me. Read on for step-by-step instructions... It turns out that alcohol, diluted with water, is…

vaccinating a dog

Fall Planting: How Late is Too Late?

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Fall is a great time to plant and divide perennials and shrubs.  This is because, as in Spring, temperatures are cooler and there is usually plenty of rain. If you are in the market for new plants in fall you can usually find sales at garden centers when they are trying to make room for holiday trees and greens. Also, blooming plants will get a head start by being planted the previous fall.  Even if the ground is frozen for…
Fall is a great time to plant and divide perennials and shrubs.  This is because, as in Spring, temperatures are cooler and there is usually plenty of rain. If you are in the market for new plants in fall you can usually find sales at garden centers when they are trying to make room for holiday trees and greens. Also,…

vaccinating a dog

Win A Copy of “The 50 Most Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants”

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

"The Curious Gardener" presents A Book Give Away this Month-- To enter sign up for our "Curious Gardener" newsletter and you'll be automatically entered to win one of two copies we're giving away.  If you've already signed up for our newsletter, send me an email at dwinslow@womanswork.com and I'll enter you.  We'll announce the winner in our next newsletter, out in early December. Conventional wisdom suggests that most of our favorite plants are also the favorites of our four-legged friends.…
"The Curious Gardener" presents A Book Give Away this Month-- To enter sign up for our "Curious Gardener" newsletter and you'll be automatically entered to win one of two copies we're giving away.  If you've already signed up for our newsletter, send me an email at dwinslow@womanswork.com and I'll enter you.  We'll announce the winner in our next newsletter, out…

vaccinating a dog

My Favorite Fall Shrub

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

If I had to choose a favorite fall shrub it would be callicarpa dichotoma, also known as beautyberry. Its arching branches with opposite leaves      (meaning the leaves are symmetrically placed on the branch instead of placed in alternate sequence like most plants) are graceful, elegant. Add      to that elegance a compact cluster of berries that appears on the branches in summer and becomes purple in early fall, and you have a standout    plant.  Callicarpa is…
If I had to choose a favorite fall shrub it would be callicarpa dichotoma, also known as beautyberry. Its arching branches with opposite leaves      (meaning the leaves are symmetrically placed on the branch instead of placed in alternate sequence like most plants) are graceful, elegant. Add      to that elegance a compact cluster of berries that appears…

vaccinating a dog

“50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants” by Ruth Clausen

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Here’s why I love this book and will be giving away two copies signed by the author. First, it has a novel rating system for plants that gives a more nuanced view of the subject. A rating of 10 is the most deer resistant, but Ruth Rogers Clausen also includes plants with ratings of 7, 8 and 9, and tells you what level of (minor) nibbling you might expect if you choose those plants. Plants below a 7 are considered…
Here’s why I love this book and will be giving away two copies signed by the author. First, it has a novel rating system for plants that gives a more nuanced view of the subject. A rating of 10 is the most deer resistant, but Ruth Rogers Clausen also includes plants with ratings of 7, 8 and 9, and tells…

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